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8831Judge Approves Sale of RadioShack Storeshttp://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=15566
http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=15566<p>A U.S. judge has given RadioShack permission to sell its 1,740 stores to Standard General, a hedge fund that plans to operate the stores with Sprint. One of RadioShack's creditors, Sulas Capital Partners, had opposed the sale. RadioShack declared bankruptcy in February after spending more than a year attempting to rebuild its business. Under the terms of the agreement, Sprint will own about 30% of each store's real estate, in which it will sell Sprint wireless goods and services. The remaining 70% of the stores' footprints will be used to sell RadioShack's branded electronics. RadioShack hopes to close the deal as soon as April 1. </p>http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/discuss.php?ff=15566Tue, 31 Mar 2015 19:59:21 GMTEric M. ZemanLG Makes Its VR Headset Available to G3 Buyershttp://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=15565
http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=15565<p>LG today said consumers who purchase a new LG G3 smartphone will also receive its Google Cardboard-based virtual reality headset for free. LG announced the VR for G3 earlier this year. Users slip their handset into the VR for G3, similar to the Google Cardboard headset. The offer also includes an in-box QR code that unlocks a free download of select VR gaming content. LG said the virtual reality headset will be available for free while supplies last. The G3 is nearing the end of its shelf life. LG has scheduled a press event for April 28, when it is expected to debut the G4 smartphone. </p>http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/discuss.php?ff=15565Tue, 31 Mar 2015 19:27:04 GMTEric M. ZemanGoogle's Inbox Adds Custom Snoozinghttp://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=15564
http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=15564<p>Google today updated its Inbox email service with the ability to set custom snooze times. Google said Inbox should figure out when to snooze for most people based on their daily activity, but it also permits people to manually set their own morning, afternoon, and evening snooze times so they can be interruption free. In addition to the new snoozing feature, Inbox makes it easier for users to reach their contacts. Inbox, which is a substitute for Gmail, is free to download from the Google Play Store. </p>http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/discuss.php?ff=15564Tue, 31 Mar 2015 18:22:02 GMTEric M. ZemanYahoo's Android App Catches Up to iOS Versionhttp://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=15563
http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=15563<p>Yahoo today pushed out an update to its Android application that brings it inline with the iOS app, which it refreshed in January. The Android Yahoo app is now more visually engaging and makes it easier to access articles, polls, and blogs from Yahoo's digital magazines, such as Yahoo Autos, Yahoo Sports, and others. The app also now keeps Yahoo Weather and Yahoo News Digest above all the other digital sections in the news feed. Yahoo for Android is free to download from the Google Play Store.
</p>http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/discuss.php?ff=15563Tue, 31 Mar 2015 16:20:13 GMTEric M. ZemanAlcatel Opens Preorders for Smartwatchhttp://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=15562
http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=15562<p>Alcatel OneTouch today made its smartwatch available for preorder through its web site. The watch, announced earlier this year, runs a proprietary operating system and is compatible with both Android and iOS devices. The wearable can track workouts and heartrate, notify users to incoming calls/messages, and control music playback. Users can take advantage of a wrist-shaking gesture to launch their smartphone's camera, if they wish. The watch will initially ship with a black band, but other colors will become available later this year. The Alcatel OneTouch Watch costs $149.99. Alcatel didn't specify when the watch will ship.</p>http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/discuss.php?ff=15562Tue, 31 Mar 2015 15:11:00 GMTEric M. ZemanSprint Settles Lawsuit Over Nextel Merger for $131 Millionhttp://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=15561
http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=15561<p>Sprint today settled a class-action lawsuit regarding its 2005 acquisition of Nextel for $131 million. Investors claim Sprint executives defrauded shareholders by inflating stock and bond prices after Sprint closed its acquisition of Nextel. The merger was troubled from the start, as Sprint struggled to integrate the two companies and lost hundreds of thousands of Nextel subscribers. At the same time, executives claimed the company was receiving billions of dollars in benefits and improving its subscriber base. Sprint was eventually forced to write down $29.7 billion in lost value. The company did not admit to any wrongdoing, but agreed to pay out $131 million. The settlement still needs to be approved by the court. </p>http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/discuss.php?ff=15561Tue, 31 Mar 2015 14:46:02 GMTEric M. ZemanWhatsApp Voice Calling Available to All Usershttp://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=15560
http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=15560<p>WhatsApp is rolling out voice calling to its Android application today. The feature, which was delayed from last year, has been in the works for some time. Some users have been testing it since February. Now, it is spreading to all Android smartphone users. With the new feature on board, WhatsApp users will be able to chat with and make voice calls to their WhatsApp contacts. WhatsApp is owned by Facebook, which has already added calling features to Facebook Messenger. WhatsApp voice calling isn't available to Android tablets. The update is rolling out over the next few days. </p>http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/discuss.php?ff=15560Tue, 31 Mar 2015 11:36:06 GMTEric M. ZemanITC to Investigate Ericsson's Patent Claims Against Applehttp://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=15550
http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=15550<p>The U.S. International Trade Commission agreed to examine Ericsson's claims that Apple is violating its wireless patents. The dispute stems from a licensing agreement between the two companies that expired in January. Since then, the companies haven't been able to agree on fees for Apple to re-license the 2G/4G patents from Ericsson. Apple argues the fees are too high and the patents are not essential to LTE. It says Ericsson demanded rates in excess of what's fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory. Ericsson sued because Apple continues to use the patents without a licensing agreement in place. Ericsson wants the ITC to issue a limited exclusion order and a cease and desist order. The ITC said it will look into the matter. </p>http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/discuss.php?ff=15550Tue, 31 Mar 2015 11:26:57 GMTEric M. ZemanGoogle Duplicating Google+ Photos in Google Drivehttp://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=15559
http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=15559<img src="http://img.phonescoop.com/img/a/f/15559_200_a_3e3427c21349e767e3eccb8fa3219c5c.jpg?bhbavr=1" width="147" height="272" alt="" /><p>Google today said it is giving people more options for organizing their photos and videos online. Moving forward, all the photos and videos users have stored in Google+ will be accessible from Google Drive. This change applies to the Android and iOS apps, as well as the web. Google believes adding photos/videos to drive will help people organize them more easily alongside their other files. Even so, Google+ Photos will continue to operate separately, where people can store, edit, and share their pictures. Google said Drive users should see their photos begin to appear automatically over the next few weeks. </p>http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/discuss.php?ff=15559Mon, 30 Mar 2015 18:56:52 GMTEric M. ZemanGoogle Adds Master Inbox View to Gmail for Androidhttp://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=15558
http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=15558<img src="http://img.phonescoop.com/img/a/f/15558_200_a_12815039afeba5ecccda30276fb0cb62.jpg?bhbavr=1" width="152" height="263" alt="" /><p>Google today updated its Gmail application for Android devices with the ability to see all emails from various accounts in a single, master inbox. Using the new "All Inboxes" option will lump together emails from Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, and IMAP/POP accounts into a single view. This way users can respond to emails from all their accounts without having to switch inboxes. Further, Google will automatically thread email conversations from non-Gmail addresses to help users keep their inbox under control. Other new features include improved auto-complete when using the search box, more responsive animations, larger attachment previews, and the ability to save to Drive with a single tap. The new version of Gmail for Android devices is available from the Google Play Store. </p>http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/discuss.php?ff=15558Mon, 30 Mar 2015 18:42:58 GMTEric M. ZemanVerizon CEO Slams FCC, Wants Congress In Chargehttp://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=15557
http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=15557<p>Verizon Communications CEO Lowell McAdam pleaded with Congress to "re-take responsibility for policymaking in the Internet ecosystem" in a letter sent Friday to the House and Senate Commerce committees. Lowell pointed to the FCC's recently proposed net neutrality rules and Dish Network's "abuse" of the AWS-3 bidding process as indicators that things have gone off the rails. "For the past few weeks, telecom and technology issues have been prominent in the news," wrote Lowell, "but unfortunately for all the wrong reasons." Lowell believes the 1996 Telecommunications Act is now horribly outdated and needs to be re-thought by Congress. "The existing legal regime and its accompanying regulatory processes are outdated and broken. It is time for Congress to re-take responsibility for policymaking in the Internet ecosystem." Lowell asked Congress first to come up with a short-term solution to curb the FCC's net neutrality rules with bipartisan legislation, and then to follow it up with a fully revised set of policies for governing the internet. "Congress [needs] to assert its longstanding role of setting, in a bipartisan fashion, public policies for the communications sector that both protect consumers and provide incentives for investment and innovation in new products and services." The FCC wants to reclassify broadband providers under Title II of the Telecommunications Act of 1934, which would brand them common carriers and allow the FCC to regulate them more stringently.</p>http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/discuss.php?ff=15557Mon, 30 Mar 2015 17:58:42 GMTEric M. ZemanAT&T Targeting Summer Launch for LTE in WCS Spectrumhttp://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=15556
http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=15556<p>AT&T plans to begin deploying LTE service in its 2.3GHz WCS spectrum holdings this summer. AT&T acquired some WCS spectrum from NextWave in 2012 and more from Sprint in 2014. AT&T's Tom Keathley, senior vice president of network and product planning, told Fierce Wireless it will use the WCS band to add capacity to its LTE 4G network in markets that need it. "We went out fast to deploy the coverage layer [in 700MHz]. WCS will be a capacity layer. So to the extent that we need capacity in an area, that will be more the indicator of how fast we go." Though deployments will start this summer, Keathley said work will continue into 2016. The company already has handsets on deck that will support the new spectrum band. AT&T expects the deployment will run smoothly. Since most of its cell sites include the necessary antennas, the carrier will need only another remote radio head at each tower. AT&T is already refarming portions of its PCS spectrum to add capacity to its LTE 4G network. AT&T also recently acquired licenses for AWS-3 spectrum from the FCC that it will use to boost downlink performance for its network. </p>http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/discuss.php?ff=15556Mon, 30 Mar 2015 17:30:45 GMTEric M. ZemanApple Offering Credit for Some Android, Windows Phoneshttp://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=15555
http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=15555<p>Apple has expanded the scope of its Reuse and Recycling Program to include smartphones, tablets, and PCs not made by Apple. Customers can take their old smartphones directly to Apple Stores and receive credit towards new Apple gear for turning them in. Customers who don't have access to Apple Stores can mail in their devices for credit. Apple will recycle just about any old phone, tablet, or computer for free. Apple says not all devices are eligible for credit and suggests customers check eligibility (online) before heading to Apple Stores. According to Apple's web site, it is accepting handsets from Sony, Samsung, Nokia, LG, and BlackBerry. Apple has partnered with Brightstar and DataServ to handle the actual device recycling processes. The expanded Apple Reuse and Recycling Program is available in the U.S., the U.K., and select European countries. </p>http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/discuss.php?ff=15555Mon, 30 Mar 2015 14:41:00 GMTEric M. ZemanT-Mobile Updates Coverage Map with Customer Datahttp://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=15554
http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=15554<img src="http://img.phonescoop.com/img/a/f/15554_200_a_909b14b5ea3914a19bd2140b6e9cff3c.jpg?bhbavr=1" width="177" height="226" alt="" /><p>T-Mobile today unveiled a new coverage map that it claims is far more accurate than the maps offered by its competitors. T-Mobile is populating the map with data generated by its own customers. The map shows coverage that's been verified by real customers and shows exactly where LTE, 4G, and 3G coverage is available. T-Mobile is using "Verified Coverage" icons to show where the data has been provided by its customers versus third-party companies. It is using a company called Inrix to verify and backup the customer data. T-Mobile said all coverage map data is updated twice per month, based on on-going customer usage. The map also details speed test data from third-party apps so customers can see what sort of speeds to expect in any given location. The new coverage map is live on T-Mobile's web site. T-Mobile said its LTE network covers 265 million Americans. It expects to cover 300 million Americans by the end of the year.</p>http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/discuss.php?ff=15554Mon, 30 Mar 2015 13:27:57 GMTEric M. ZemanLG's Mid-Range Phones On Sale, But US Launch Unknownhttp://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=15553
http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=15553<p>LG today said its new mid-range handsets, the Magna, Spirit, Leon, and Joy, are going on sale in South America. The phones will be made available across Latin America first, but will soon also reach Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and, eventually, North America. So far, none of the major U.S. network operators has voiced support for these phones. Until they do, the devices will only be sold overseas. The phones range from the 4-inch Joy to the 5-inch Magna. </p>http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/discuss.php?ff=15553Mon, 30 Mar 2015 12:35:41 GMTEric M. ZemanSony Music Unlimited Goes Offline, Spotify Takes Its Placehttp://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=15552
http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=15552<p>Sony today followed through on an announcement made in January concerning Sony Music Unlimited and Spotify. Sony Music Unlimited has gone offline in all 19 countries where it was offered. The service, which cost $10 per month, let Xperia device and PlayStation owners stream songs and playlists. Sony partnered with Spotify, which is officially taking Music Unlimited's place across Sony's devices. Spotify gives Sony hardware owners access to 30 million songs and 1.5 billion playlists. PlayStation owners will be able to create and listen to playlists when playing games, as well as listen to music on-demand whenever they wish. Spotify replaces Sony's Music Unlimited service on Xperia smartphones and tablets, too, but it isn't yet available. Sony said it should be ready for mobile devices soon. Spotify is already available to Android and iOS devices from the Google Play Store and iTunes App Store, respectively. </p>http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/discuss.php?ff=15552Mon, 30 Mar 2015 12:21:13 GMTEric M. ZemanWindows 10 Preview to Reach Dozens More Phones Soonhttp://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=15551
http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=15551<p>Microsoft said it is preparing to make the technical preview of Windows 10 available to a large batch of phones in the coming weeks. Microsoft delivered an early build of the technical preview to just a few handsets in February. However, due to the way most handsets' partitions were created, the preview couldn't function properly on the vast majority of devices. Microsoft has completed a process called partition stitching, which allows devices to adjust the partition dynamically. Microsoft has since been testing the technical preview on a wide variety of Windows handsets to make sure the build is functional. Microsoft expects to spend about another week engineering the code, and then will likely make the preview available through its Windows Insiders program. Some of the handsets that will be able to test the new operating system include the Lumia 1520, 1320, 1020, 920, 925, 928, Icon, and a smattering of handsets from the Lumia 500, 600, 700, and 800 series. Microsoft will have more details about timing of the release in the days to come. </p>http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/discuss.php?ff=15551Mon, 30 Mar 2015 12:04:49 GMTEric M. ZemanFCC Chair Floats 3.5GHz Sharing Proposalhttp://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=15549
http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=15549<p>The FCC is moving forward with plans to free up a portion of the 3.5GHz band for wireless broadband use. The agency has been exploring the idea of sharing the airwaves with the incumbent users, including the military, and wants to make 150MHz of the spectrum available for wireless purposes. Chairman Tom Wheeler today circulated a draft Report and Order proposing to create a new Citizens Broadband Radio Service. The idea is to use a three-tiered sharing paradigm. In a segment called General Authorized Access, any FCC-certified device would be able to access the spectrum as long as it doesn't cause interference. In the Priority Access tier, users would have to acquire "short-duration licenses" at auction. Any service provided in the Priority Access would have to protect GAA users. Existing government users would stand at the top of the three tiers. They use the spectrum for satellite and radar, and will be protected from the two lower tiers. The tiers will be managed by something called the Spectrum Access System, which uses cloud computing technology to visualize and control what entities are using the spectrum in which locations. "I look forward to my fellow Commissioners' feedback on the draft Report and Order," said Wheeler. "I think it provides a peek of the future, and that future is very exciting indeed."</p>http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/discuss.php?ff=15549Fri, 27 Mar 2015 21:32:33 GMTEric M. ZemanVine Improves Video Quality to 720p HDhttp://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=15548
http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=15548<p>Vine today announced new support for higher-resolution video. Since launch, the video-sharing service has uploaded videos with a maximum resolution of 480p. An update to its mobile application will record and upload videos in 720p HD. The update will hit the iOS version of Vine in the coming days, with the Android version to follow at some point down the road. Vine is owned by Twitter and lets people record 6-second videos that are then played back in loops. Earlier this week, Twitter released an app called Periscope, which lets people broadcast live video from their smartphones. </p>http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/discuss.php?ff=15548Fri, 27 Mar 2015 17:09:17 GMTEric M. ZemanUS Cellular Accepting Preorders for Galaxy S6http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=15547
http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=15547<p>U.S. Cellular has begun accepting preorders on its web site for the Samsung Galaxy S6. U.S. Cellular wants $199.99 for the 32 GB S6 or $299.99 for the S6 Edge, each with a two-year contract. Customers who prefer to pay over time can score the S6 for $34 per month or the S6 Edge for $39.50 per month. The 64GB models of the S6 and S6 Edge cost $299.99 and $399.99 with a two year contract, respectively, or $38.50 and $44 per month. U.S. Cellular is offering the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge in black or white, but not the gold color being sold by the big four carriers. U.S. Cellular didn't specify shipping dates. </p>http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/discuss.php?ff=15547Fri, 27 Mar 2015 15:12:30 GMTEric M. Zeman